Tag Archives: Craig Tooley

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There is something going on underground at Rick's and my place and an adjacent neighbor in Anchor Bay. Fungi and plants are weaving their magic for some rare and unusual wildflowers. The rarest of them is the Small Ground Cone, Kopsiopsis hookeri. They are mostly dried up now, but a single one barely pushed to the surface a few weeks ago. They are known to be symbiotic with the plant Salal. The new Small Ground Cone kind of looks like a turtle emerging from the sandy soil.

Nearby there are Gnome Plants, Hemitomes congestum. They come up in different places, but in the same general area. Fungi in the area is Matsutake and Queen Boletes. This photo of a newly emerged plant was taken by Bob Rutemoeller.

And just across from the Gnome Plants, a single California Pine Foot, Pityopus californicus. This photo was taken by Craig Tooley.

I have a couple more to show you, but on another day!

Thanks to Bob and Craig for allowing me to share their photos with you here. I sure wish I had 3-D glasses that would let me look into the ground and see all the connections going on down there!

Drippy fog this morning, enough to show .001 in the rain gauge. The sun is trying to break through this afternoon. The fog has lifted and the Pacific Ocean is still there! Yay!

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Merten's Coralroot, Corallorhiza mertensiana, is a treat to find. It's one of the native orchids and it is leafless. This plant receives its  nutrients from fungi. Craig Tooley recently photographed a clump of these beauties.

They like moist areas with dappled sunlight. Craig's close-up shows the exquisite blossoms.

Thanks to Craig for allowing me to share his photos with you here. To see much more of Craig's nature photography, here is his website: http://www.ruffimage.com

The June gloom continues in the mornings, with sun appearing most afternoons. Temps are quite mild.

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Mylitta Butterflies, Phyciodes mylitta, are small and colored orange, blank and with white edges. I am seeing one or two every day at my place in Anchor Bay. But Laura Baker topped me big-time with her sighting many of these elegant butterflies on a flowering bush at her place in Annapolis.

Here's a close-up for you to see, taken by Craig Tooley.

Life gets a little better when a butterfly comes your way! Thanks to Laura and Craig for allowing me to share their photos with you here.

It was foggy this morning, but the fog had pulled waaay back. That yellow thing...oh, yes, I remember!...the sun has appeared.

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When you find the native Western Azaleas in bloom, take a nice sniff as they have a lovely fragrance. Craig Tooley recently photographed the beautiful blossoms for us to see.

They really are works of art...as created by Mother Nature!

Thanks to Craig for allowing me to share his photo with you here. To see much more of Craig's nature photography, here is the link to his website: http://www.ruffimage.com

Another very foggy morning but it has lifted this afternoon. Can the sun be shining on us soon?

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Craig Tooley found this little guy/gal. In the second photo Craig put a dime so we can see the scale of the California Slender Salamander. It's tiny!

You can learn much more about them on Gary Nafis' fabulous website at this link: https://californiaherps.com/salamanders/pages/b.attenuatus.html

Gary is the person who identified this little salamander for me. Thanks, as always, Gary!

And thanks to Craig for allowing me to share his photos with you here. To see much more of Craig's nature photography, here is the link to his website: http://www.ruffimage.com

It's foggy right along the coast, and sunny elsewhere. Must be spring on the Mendonoma Coast!